Shared Custody
by Flashofblue
Summary: Shared custody of a dog leads to more than they bargained for. Spoilers for 4X13.


**A/N: This is based on the sneak peek for episode 4X13, so if you don't want to be spoiled, it's probably a good idea to stop reading here.  
>This starts at the end of the sneak peek…<strong>

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><p><strong>Shared Custody<strong>

Castle held her hand loosely in his, his thumb gently rubbing circles on the back of it as the air around them filled with tension. In his excitement, he hadn't actually thought this move through.

He hadn't thought about the way the feeling of her soft skin would affect him.

Then he noticed Beckett's gaze lower to their hands for a moment, before coming back up to look at him.

He swallowed and mentally corrected his previous thought. He hadn't thought about the way it would affect _them. _

When he swallowed her eyes fixed on the subtle movement of his throat. Then, as her eyes slowly made their way back to meeting his, her gaze lingered on his lips a little longer than necessary.

She wanted to say something, maybe mention their dog, something light to break the current tension. But not a single word managed to come from her lips. Her mind was racing, every nerve ending in her body working overtime, tingling in anticipation as his thumb continued their slow strokes on her hand.

The time for passing this off as him demonstrating how their dog liked to be rubbed had long gone.

He wanted more. The soft skin of her hands was alluring, but now that he was touching her, he wanted to feel more of her skin. Their eyes met, hers dark, and he had no doubt that his eyes must be in a similar state. His thumb stilled its movements, and instead of moving, he just gently clutched her hand, keeping it in his.

If he pulled her hand towards him now, her body would surely follow.

For a moment, they both halted, hesitant, unsure of what this would mean for them. But the tension was there, and it was hard to ignore their racing heartbeats and heavy breathing.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out other than a soft breath. Part of her tried to tell her this was wrong, but – so her body reasoned – if it was wrong why would did this feel so good? So when he finally took a chance and pulled her towards him by their joined hands, she didn't resist, but came willingly.

The distance between them was barely existent as their breaths mingled.

Any thoughts he might have had, anything to hold him back, went out the door when his eyes followed the movement of her tongue which she subconsciously darted out to wet her lips. Or maybe she did it on purpose, he couldn't tell. Not that he minded either way.

As he slowly leaned in, he swore he could hear her make out a soft, low sound of anticipation.

Her eyes fluttered closed when she felt his breath against her lips and –

The low sound from before was louder now, sounding an awful lot like a… bark. Paws suddenly pressed up her legs and her mind seemed to come back to their current situation. She pulled away from Castle slightly and the dog lowered its paws back to the ground.

Beckett's hand was still clutched in Castle's as the dog barked again, excitedly wagging its tail when Castle finally broke his gaze away from Beckett and focused on the dog instead.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Beckett asked when she turned her attention to the dog as well, her voice a little lower than usual, a little rough around the edges.

Castle, standing next to her, closed his eyes for a brief moment in an attempt to calm himself down a little before clearing his throat. "He's just jealous."

Beckett, who had leaned down a little to get at a more even level with the dog, halted her petting as her head snapped up to his. "Jealous?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.

Sighing, he clarified, "Yes, it seems like he is a little jealous. Earlier today, I greeted Alexis with a hug after she'd gotten home from school." He nodded his head in the direction of the dog as he continued, "_He_started barking at Alexis."

Though her posture had been a little tense, she relaxed a little as a hint of a smile played at the corners of her lips. "Jealous." She muttered amusedly when she looked back at the dog, shaking her head slowly.

When the dog noticed that the attention of both of the people in the room was directed at him, he wagged his tail excitedly as he got up and ran off to grab his toy. Seconds later, he pressed the toy against Castle's leg insistently before dropping it near his feet where it landed with a soft squeak.

"He isn't exactly subtle, is he?" Beckett noted as the dog's gaze fixed on the toy.

Castle smiled as he shook his head. "No, I believe he prefers a more straightforward approach."

He leaned down to grab the toy, and the dog tensed, staring at Castle's hands intently, watching his every move. Then he threw the toy away to the other end of the room and the dog ran off to fetch it.

Beckett was now standing next to Castle as they both watched the dog fetch the toy and bring it back to them. This time, Beckett was the one to throw it, and they continued playing the game for a while, neither of them mentioning the almost kiss from moments before.

When it was eventually got to the point of Castle getting ready to leave, she quietly walked him to her door. Once in her doorway, he stopped and turned around to face her.

They shared a look, both unsure, not knowing what to say or even to say anything at all.

"Have you got everything you need?" He asked, referring to things she'd need for their dog, but the look in his eyes made it feel like a much more loaded question.

She nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Okay, good." He replied, though the words were spoken slowly, dragging them out a little more than necessary. Shifting uncomfortably, he looked down at her hands, his memory reminding him exactly how they had felt in his.

He let out a breath as he looked up again. "Kate."

The way he said her name made her heart skip a beat, her body lightly swaying in anticipation, wanting some kind of resolve from the tension that had been created before. She wanted this – him. She could deny it to herself all she wanted but right there, right then, the only thing she wanted was a way to resolve… well, everything. The feelings, the complications, the wall – just, everything. Mostly the damn tension, though.

She wouldn't have stopped him before, so why should she do it now?

Then, before her mind could properly register her decision and remind of all the reasons she shouldn't, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his.

He didn't question it either, eagerly responding to her kiss, his hands coming up to rest at her waist, subconsciously pulling her body closer to his.

She hummed into his mouth in approval as her hands found their way to the back of his neck, keeping him against her. As if he would ever want to break away from their kiss.

When her tongue traced his lip, he opened his mouth in response, instinctively deepening the kiss. He wasn't too sure if the moan he heard came from her or from him, but it didn't matter. His hands started tracing her sides, moving along the contours of her body with need to touch her.

Then they heard a bark, which pulled them back to reality.

They broke apart, both a little breathless, and Castle noticed with a satisfied grin that her lips were slightly swollen from the kiss.

She looked over her shoulder to see the dog looking at them from a distance, the soft sounds they'd made had apparently woken him up from his slumber.

"I think he wants you to stay…" She said once she'd turned back to Castle, and raised an eyebrow as she gave him a smile.

"Does he now?" He replied playfully. "Well, I guess I'll have to oblige, then."

Stepping past her inside, she closed the door behind him, and when she looked into her living room, she saw that their dog had already gotten his toy again, ready to play.

Smiling, she shook her head in amusement when she heard Castle whisper something that sounded like 'good timing' to the dog.

They sure made a nice couple.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so I wrote this rather quickly, and even though I reread it a couple of times before posting, there might still be some mistakes, so I apologize for that.  
>Also, the jealous dog thing? Totally based on my own dog. Whenever I would hug my sister, she would start barking, like she wanted to be included too. (Just to clarify, my dog would be the one barking, not my sister.) Even though she doesn't do that anymore, she does always press various dog toys against my leg when she wants to play…<br>Anyway, I would love to hear thoughts on this. :)**

**A/N (update): I noticed just after I posted this that there was another story also named 'Shared Custody' by . I'd already posted, and I considered changing the name of this because I'd hate to give the impression that I just took that title, but I couldn't think of anything that was more suited for this. **


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